Alberto Campos

The host of the Portuguese Mega Drive Championships heads the table towards the qualification tournament. A strong all-round player who has reached the Second Stage in every tournament, it would take something along the lines of loss of limb or thermo-nuclear war to prevent Alberto reaching the qualification tournament for Team Portugal. Untouchable on the Micro Machines series, he is all but secured points in the Second Stage, but whether or not Alberto can produce the form that won him the Fifth Mega Drive Tournament remains to be seen. Alberto represented Portugal at the 2008 European Mega Drive Championship where he gave the best performance of those present and was truly the biggest asset in allowing Team Portugal to come away as Champions.

Chances of Qualifying:

Dário Pelixo

"The Cristiano Ronaldo of Mega Drive" will enter the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship with his place in Europe virtually secured. The winner of the Tenth Tournament, Dário, is confident he can emulate the fete of Jorge Esteves, at the Second and Third Championships, and retain his title for two successive tournaments, as well as becoming the first man to win three Portuguese Championships! Dário will likely have ambitions of finishing above his team-mates from the 2008 European Mega Drive Championship and being one-point ahead of Ferdinand Menéndez and one-point behind Alberto Campos, the three men are finely balanced in terms of who will enter the qualification tournament in first place, although the games of Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition and Super Street Fighter 2 could tip the advantage in Dário's favour.

Chances of Qualifying:

Ferdinand Menéndez

The winner of the Ninth Mega Drive Championship and one third of the trio who won the 2008 European Mega Drive Championship, Ferdinand Menéndez achieving his place in the qualification tournament is merely a formality, as the twenty-five points between himself and ninth place is practically insurmountable. Never the less, it is reasonable to surmise that bragging rights will doubtless be in the backs of the minds of the 2008 European Championship winners and with just two-points between leader Alberto Campos and himself, the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship will doubtless be one played not just for the prize, but for pride too.

Chances of Qualifying:

João Pires

João Pires makes up the quartet whose place in the qualification tournament is realistically safe, but not yet mathematically safe. Once more famous for photographs of himself hoisting bins and brooms, João has improved dramatically as a Mega Drive athlete and will be a serious contender when the qualification tournament comes around. In spite of his healthy points tally, João has never made it beyond the semi-finals of any domestic tournament and is the highest placed member who has never won a tournament. Certainly this will be the issue he is looking to address at the Eleventh Tournament, as his forty-one points will comfortably see him through to the qualification competition.

Chances of Qualifying:

Luis Xavier

An impressive performance at the Ninth Mega Drive Tournament saw Luis Xavier progress all the way to the final, where he was finally defeated by Ferdinand Menéndez on Herzog Zwei. Luis's form took a nose dive at the Tenth Mega Drive Tournament as he went from his best tournament performance to his worst. Eliminated from Stage One with a miserly six-points. In spite of this, Luis has an excellent chance of reaching the qualification tournament. Barring another complete disaster his thirty-two points accumulated should be enough to see him qualify. Bettering Pedro Mendes, or an early elimination for David Magueijo, Fátima Campos or Arsénio Ferraz, is all that Luis will require at the Eleventh Championship.

Chances of Qualifying:

Pedro Mendes

A newcomer at the Ninth Tournament, Pedro Mendes was quick to show his credentials as a contender for the Portuguese national team with a third-place finish on his debut. His performance at the Tenth Tournament was no less competent, however, just one-point separated him from Stage Three. His thirty-two points accumulated virtually makes his participation in the qualification tournament a certainty. Should one of David Magueijo, Fátima Campos or Arsénio Ferraz then he will be secure in the top eight. Similarly, bettering Luis Xavier's performance will guarantee his advancement to the European Qualification Tournament, although in reality all Pedro needs to do is maintain his form of the previous two tournaments.

Chances of Qualifying:

David Magueijo

A mere seven-point cushion keeps David Magueijo in a qualifying position. The winner of the Sixth Mega Drive Tournament has produced consistent, but by no means spectacular, performances over the last two tournaments and will need to repeat this form in order to consolidate his position in the top eight. There has been a decline in David's results in recent tournaments; once comparable with Alberto Campos, David has started to slip down the rankings. A solid player, he will need to be wary of Arsénio Ferraz and Fátima Campos, as if both those players produce a good performance, David will suddenly find himself vulnerable.

Chances of Qualifying:

Arsénio Ferraz

The winner of the Eighth Mega Drive Championship did a lot of damage to his European ranking when he failed to attend the Tenth Tournament. His standing was only maintained through an excellent performance at the Ninth Tournament, which saw him advance as far as the semi-finals, but missing out at the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship would see Arsénio fall from the qualification places entirely. Bettering Fátima Campos is the minimum Arsénio will need to do, while David Magueijo, Luis Xavier and Pedro Mendes are not quite secure yet. Arsénio will be looking to take advantage of Mortal Kombat being used in Stage One, a game he excells at, but he will need to be at his best in the other games to take advantage should any of those ranked higher than himself fail.

Chances of Qualifying:

Fátima Campos

Tied for eighth place, historically a big name in Portugal, other priorities and lack of practice have seen Fátima slip down the rankings. Having performed poorly at the Ninth Mega Drive Tournament, resurgence at the Tenth saw Fátima rise from obscurity to the brink of qualification. The minimum requirement for the Eleventh Championship will be to better the result of Arsénio Ferraz, however, David Magueijo could be vulnerable and if she can re-capture some of the old form that propelled her into the semi-finals of old tournaments then there is no reason why Fátima cannot make the final eight.

Chances of Qualifying:

André Saraiva

The biggest challenge faced by André Saraiva is attendance. The Tenth Mega Drive Championship was his first appearance since the Fourth Tournament and a repeat of any absence will, obviously, deny him the opportunity to represent Portugal on the International Stage in October. Should he overcome this hurdle then emulating his form from the Tenth Championship is a necessity, as needs to overtake both Arsénio Ferraz and Fátima Campos, who are tied in the final qualification place and both have a five-point advantage over him.

Chances of Qualifying:

Pedro Bragança

Failure to attend the Tenth Mega Drive Championship, after earning nine-points at the Ninth, has severely dented any hopes Pedro may have had of qualifying for Team Portugal. Having never attended before or after the Ninth Mega Drive Tournament, we are sceptical as to whether or not he will return for the Eleventh, however, the man who was cruelly beaten by Ferdinand Menéndez in the Stage One tiebreak game still has an outside chance of reaching the qualification tournament. Failure to reach Stage Two will certainly be the end of any European dream.

Chances of Qualifying:

Aida Campos

Here at Tournament Towers we are not quite certain how Aida managed earn herself half a point, however, she currently stands twelve and a half points from the qualification places. We are interested to see whether or not she can maintain her position ahead of her sister Vanda, but making the top eight seems like an insurmountable obstacle for somebody who has never progressed into the Second Stage.

Chances of Qualifying:

Vitor Sousa

We won't be holding our breath that Vitor Sousa will be attending the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship. Although if he were to appear he might stand a remote chance of reaching the qualification tournament – it would be a big ask though.

Chances of Qualifying:

Armando Dias

In spite of standing a huge thirteen-points from the qualification positions, it has been suggested Armando Dais could be the surprise package at the Eleventh Championship. Missing the Ninth Mega Drive Tournament, regrettably, might have already hammered the metaphorical nail into the metaphorical coffin. He came close to the Second Stage at the Tenth Tournament, beaten in a tiebreak game by David Magueijo. This time advancing beyond Phase One is a necessity and he will be reliant on some of the members higher up the rankings to give poor performances.

Chances of Qualifying:

Vanda Campos

European Qualification is a big ask for a woman who would likely confess not to be the most passionate member of the competitions. Averaging three-points at both the Ninth and Tenth tournaments, being fourteen-points from the top eight seems like too massive hurdle for Vanda. Never the less, we are interested to see if she can overturn the one and a half point advantage her sister Aida has.

Chances of Qualifying:

Orlando Silva

A fallen giant of a bygone era of tournaments, Orlando Silva still clings onto an outside chance of making it into the top eight. The defeated finalist at the Fourth Mega Drive Tournament, Orlando also successfully reached the Semi-Finals at the Second Tournament. Yet he has failed to make any major impact on the competitions since the Sixth Mega Drive Championship and regrettably this once great warrior is a shadow of his former self. Should he return at the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship and find that form that once made him so dangerous then Orlando might just earn himself a place in the qualification tournament.

Chances of Qualifying:

Hugo Vieira

Hugo Vieira's Tenth Tournament absence may well have cost him the opportunity to participate in the 2009 European Mega Drive Championship. Having attended every contest since the Fifth, his poor performance at the Ninth Mega Drive Championship it was important Hugo gave a good account of himself at the Tenth Tournament, but after missing that he will need to do something phenomenal at the Eleventh Championship, if he is to make it into a qualification position. He will also be dependant upon dismal performances from some good players.

Chances of Qualifying:

Diogo Oliveira

An anonymous performance at his debut tournament leaves him well adrift in the rankings. It would be something of an achievement if Diogo attended and a miracle for him to finish in the top eight.

Chances of Qualifying:

Joana Hamrol

Providing an intermittent attendance in recent tournaments, Joana Hamrol reached Stage Two once at the Fifth Mega Drive Championship. Although we are hopeful she will participate in the Eleventh Championship, achieving a place in the qualification tournament seems nigh on impossible for a woman who is often a Stage One casualty.

Chances of Qualifying:

Nuno Folhadela

After a truly shocking performance at the Ninth Mega Drive Championship and a failure to appear at the Tenth Tournament, Nuno Folhadela holds up the rankings. In spite of reaching Stage Two on a number of occasions, he is too far down the pecking order to pose any serious threat, assuming he makes a return for the Eleventh Mega Drive Championship.

Chances of Qualifying: